Wellbeing archives

2020 saw the launch of the first annual wellbeing programme for staff - a structured programme of wellbeing activities throughout the year. We also saw a shift of focus in wellbeing as the School responded to COVID-19 (coronavirus) and a move to a largely remote working culture. This included developing a Your wellbeing and working from home  page, including plenty of practical advice, tips and activities for topping up wellbeing while staff are away from campus. 

As well as specific resources for wellbeing when working from home, 2020 also saw: Body Balance and Body Conditioning fitness classes, workshops on mental wellbeing and resilience, more of 'Explore London', seminars on financial wellbeing, cycling promotions, Yoga tasters, and more. Not to mention the launch of LSE Tree - the Teams discussion group for staff to engage, network and connect.

Quite a year for staff wellbeing...

Well, where to start? The highlight of staff wellbeing activity for 2019 was probably the return of the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC). From May to September, a grand total of 49 teams (that's 343 staff) pushed team-mates and colleagues to new fitness heights as they racked up the steps and climbed the leaderboard. 

Following on from recent years, 2019 also saw a 'Get Active' Festival, which gave staff the opportunity to try out some new activities as well as welcoming some established favourites (such as the ever-popular body combat). As before, there was some really positive feedback to Festival's mix of new and old - in fact, it's fair to say that the success of 'Get Active' was a big factor behind the design of the new annual Wellbeing Programme. 

'Explore London', LSE's own walking group, went from strength to strength during 2019 - welcoming a number of new walkers and discovering new routes around and beyond the School campus (the Temple Courts walk was a highlight). 

As you'd expect, 2019 also saw termly wellbeing events, including (take a deep breath...): mindfulness, 'Get to know your benefits' awareness session, personal development bookclub, Fitness First and Gymbox open weeks, posture workshop, Shaw Cafe promotions, the launch of 10 Minute Mind, anxiety and sleep workshops, nutrition talks and more...

All in all, quite a year for staff wellbeing, with much more to come in 2020!

Lent Term was filled with a whole host of activities great and small with the usual wellbeing events for staff coupled with the School taking part in Sports Relief 2018!

Sports Relief was a fun filled event to support this fantastic initiative from Comic Relief. Running nationwide, all the money raised supports truly amazing projects within the UK and across the world – from supporting those living with mental health issues to providing lifesaving maternal healthcare for mothers and babies, from helping those at risk of trafficking or domestic violence to joining the global fight to end malaria.

LSE’s take on Sport Relief offered a week-long programme with everything from basketball hoop and rowing challenges, to hula hoop classes as well as your more conventional boot camps, fun runs and bikeathons.  Embracing the spirit of the LSE community, all activities were open to all students and staff.  It was great fun - safe to say, we really did ‘take part, raise money, feel good’.

Staff wellbeing throughout Lent Term saw bite-sized mindfulness taster sessions for staff to learn a little more about the benefits of mindfulness meditation and the launch of the School’s first all-inclusive walking group – ‘Explore London’!

‘Explore London’ really got their walking shoes and trainers on and has since taken entertaining walks through local-to-campus London town, enjoying everything from the sights of James Bond filming locations to Royal Palaces and the wacky and wonderful Harry Potter spots right under our noses in and around Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It has been a great opportunity to foster networking across the staffing community from all corners of the School and continues to steadily grow.

Events also allowed for the opportunity to try out a range of Innocent smoothies and discuss personal development material that staff had found useful in helping to find their own balance in busy working lives.  It was fabulous to see colleagues from all around campus gathering and discussing books and also sharing tips that work well for them. 

Summer term wellbeing saw the School getting up and active with the second 'Get Active' Festival! A seven-week long programme of fitness classes for all abilities and levels of fitness hosted in and around campus completely free to all staff who tracked and counted their progress individually or in teams along the way.  Activities included roof top yoga, boot camp, body combat, mavericks enjoying local Boom Cycle spinning classes, tennis in Lincoln inn field, touch rugby and hula hooping to mention a few! The ‘Explore London’ walking group were out and about and brain training (mindfulness) helped those who attended benefit from learning how to re-set and focus the mind. Click here for full details. 

In addition to this, workshops ran during staff Summer term wellbeing week as part of the School’s Staff Summer Festival, which ran throughout summer. The aim was to help staff take stock of the essential basics we often all forget are important like knowing what wellbeing LSE have on campus for staff in the first place – more than everyone thought, as well as learning more about optimal posture for productivity at work and exploring how to be happy at work too.

Lent term wellbeing events had a fun mix of classes and sessions to set the year off on the right tracks including 'make your own smoothie' classes and complimentary 'early bird' caffeine-free beverages from our LSE Catering outlets for all staff on campus before 9am.

LSE Counselling hosted workshops on looking after yourself and reducing anxiety and aiding relaxation and we also had yoga taster sessions on offer.

The SU Gym offered MOT health fitness assessments for those who were brave enough to face their stats and we invited smoking cessation advisors on campus to offer helpful hints and tips on kicking the habit once and for all.

We held our first ever personal development book club session and made sure we found time for more mini chair massages! 

The School had its very first Staff Get Active Festival!

A fantastic array of free fitness sessions for all fitness levels and abilities were held throughout the summer to inspire staff to get active.   

There was everything from boot camp to yoga, salsa and tennis, spin classes and pilates.  You name it, we had it.

We tried on the Work Place Challenge fitness platform and mobile app for size, to see what we all thought and also introduced the School's first ever VIP wellbeing awards ceremony which took place in November 2017.

Lent Term's Wellbeing Week had a range of wellbeing, relaxation and fitness sessions scheduled throughout to provide a range of activities to suit all interests.

Gym tours and health MOT wellness sessions courtesy of the SU Gym either shocked or delighted us and complimentary neck and shoulder massages on campus went down a storm, needing an encore by popular demand!

A great selection of very low cost or free classes were attended including tai chi taster sessions, salsa, hatha yoga and boxfit classes. 

We also had a number of workshops hosted by our LSE Counselling team on sleeping better, mindfulness and emotional resilience, and we even had guide dogs on campus to raise money for Guide Dogs UK which was hugely popular with both staff and students.

Global Corporate Challenge returned once again in 2016 with 322 staff teaming up in groups to count their steps. 

A total combined step count of 438,137,225 was achieved across the School. A staggering 280,408 km. The equivalent of walking around the world seven times!  

With a total calorific burn of 17,580,743 it was the equivalent of 108,886 glasses of wine, 36,804 large burgers and 70,437 slices of cake. An amazing achievement!

That opportunity returned....

By popular demand, The Global Corporate Challenge came back to campus! New adventurers were sought.

Trainers were dusted off.

Buses were alighted one stop early.

Many staircases were climbed and obsessions with accelerometers set in for the summer.

Regardless of activity levels, GCC offered a fun opportunity to team up with colleagues across campus to improve fitness and achieve personal health goals, whilst engaging in a bit of healthy competition around the School, oh, and 40,000 or so other teams across the world....! 

This 100-day activity challenge started on 27th May 2015 and kept everyone who took part on the move.

In the summer of 2014, a new craze swept the LSE campus.  “Steps” became the new capital. Echoes of “how many? how many?” still reverberate around the NAB as LSE embarked on the first experience of The Global Corporate Challange (GCC).

Staff groups wore new grooves in the pathways of Lincolns’ Inn Fields on a never-ending trundle, and working accelerometers were traded on the black market.

100 days later, the Department of Management skipped first across the finish line, blistered, bruised, and with 26 other teams snapping at their cracked heels, eyes burning with a hunger to steal Management’s crown as soon as the opportunity arose. 

The buzz created a fantastic atmosphere around campus and gives us plenty upon which to reminisce.